


Everlasting

by Ramasi



Category: Death Note
Genre: Alternate Timeline, Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-08-13
Updated: 2008-08-13
Packaged: 2017-10-26 03:50:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/278356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ramasi/pseuds/Ramasi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little while after the Kira case is closed, Mello pays Near a visit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everlasting

**Author's Note:**

> Vaguely Mello/Near-ish in my mind, but really gen. AT in which Mello survived.

"You used me!"

Near carefully lays the block in his hand on top of the edifice that surrounds him before looking up at the angry boy in the doorway. Same tight-fitting black clothes with belts and silver crosses, same furious expression as always. At least he isn't holding a gun this time. Near briefly considers coming out from behind the walls of the block-castle – Mello has not knocked over any of his constructions in a very long time, but he'll always remain unpredictable – before deciding against it.

"Your interference was useful to me," he admits. Mello's glare gets even more deadly.

"You self-sufficient little brat!" he snaps; Near can recall very few meetings with him where Mello has not sooner or later insulted him.

Near shrugs, and places another block, not looking at the other boy.

"I expected you'd do something of the sort when I gave you the information, but I didn't know what exactly. It could have been something that hinders my plan just as well."

"I wish it'd been," Mello snaps.

"I caught Kira," Near reminds him placidly.

This only seems to make Mello angrier: he stalks forward, comes to stand before the small wall of blocks. Near idly looks up at him, playing with his hair. Mello is always irritating, but always interesting. There's something strange about the way he's never beaten him yet keeps challenging him.

"Yeah," Mello eventually mutters, and takes out a chocolate bar. Near continues to look at him curiously, surprised by the response. Mello quickly eats a whole quarter of the bar, before he speaks again: "Matt died."

Near continues to look at him, waiting if maybe he's going to take this somewhere, but that seems to be all he has to say about the matter.

"I heard," Near eventually answers.

"You don't care," Mello snaps, furious.

"He was your friend, not mine," Near remarks, and observes the painful, guilty look that passes over Mello's face before he viciously plants his teeth into the chocolate again. Small crumbs fall on the block wall between them.

"You little!..."

"I lost almost my whole team once," Near interrupts calmly.

"So?" Mello brushes it away in one angry gesture. "You didn't care for any of them. You don't care about anyone, just – " he gestures, with the tip of his foot, at the finger puppets scattered around him – " your puppets."

Near takes another block.

"I thought you died," he says.

It's strange to watch Mello then, because he doesn't react. He goes completely still, and it lasts for such a short moment that, if you didn't know Mello very well, you wouldn't notice.

"Yeah, well. I would have, if... The woman, Takada, she tried to hide a piece of a Death Note."

"What happened?" Near looks around his castle, silently counting and calculating.

"Lost control of the car. Crashed."

Near nods.

"I figured as much." Mello shots him another glare. "You shouldn't stay," Near adds after a moment, resuming his construction. "The FBI's still looking for you for over twenty murders, kidnapping, blackmail, theft." The list goes on, including all the offences credited to the mafia group Mello was part of.

"Mm." Mello makes a dismissive gesture, as if he wasn't in a highly guarded and thus dangerous place right now. "Didn't do most of them myself, actually." He fixes his eyes on him. "What about you?"

"I'm working on another case right now."

"Yeah." Mello throws a bitter glance at the screen displaying the familiar black "L" on white ground. "I heard."

Near doesn't answer. He figures that if Mello came here to kill him, he would have tried something by now. He does glance up, though, when Mello shots past him, over the walls of his castle and out again, in three steps, without disturbing the construction.

"I'll be seeing you," Mello says, without turning round. Near doesn't answer. He sits still, playing with his hair, for a whole thirty minutes, before proceeding to the construction of an additional tower.


End file.
